Additionally, Wild Krattshas expanded its retail line. Wicked Cool Toys has added new action figure sets and role-play items; Pressman Toys added three new games; Random House Children’s Books expanded their line of four Step into Reading titles to 12 books; later this year PBS Distribution will release two new DVDs, Wild Animal Babies and Wild Reptiles; PBS Kids released a new app, Wild Kratts Baby Buddies, intended for children 3 to 8 that focuses on animal care; and InCharacter has added Florida Panther Costumes in both green for Chris and blue for Martin. [Read more...]

DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls will debut globally this October. The movie tells the story of Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) who must enlist the help of Branch (Justin Timberlake) to rescue her friends.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and whether or not you believe bullying is a natural rite of passage among children, versus a series of preventable behaviors that can leave lasting emotional damage on the young, one thing is clear: It has become a part of the national conversation. Joining the voices chiming in on the subject is the toy industry, which in the months leading up to October, has seen a number of actions among various players to address the problem of bullying. Some take the form of products that try to make kids understand the bad feelings that come with being picked on; others seek galvanize youth into taking a stand against bullying together. [Read more...]

Saban Brands has entered a global publishing deal with Random House Children’s Books for the preschool property Julius Jr. New products will include an interactive collection of books inspired by the TV series, which airs on Nick Jr. Random House has acquired worldwide English rights, and the books will be available starting this fall and published under the company’s Golden Books and Random House Books for Young Readers imprints.

“The Julius Jr. series will be a natural fit with young readers and we’re happy to share the fantastic adventures of Julius Jr. and his friends through visual storytelling,” said Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands.

The fall collection will include a full range of color and activity books, leveled readers, storybooks, and novelty books for preschool-aged children.

DreamWorks Animation brings Jay Ward’s classic cartoon Mr. Peabody & Sherman to life in an all new 3-D comedy adventure. The film is directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little, The Lion King) and produced by Alex Schwartz and Denise Nolan Cascino. Bullwinkle Studios’ Tiffany Ward, Eric Ellenbogen, and Jason Clark also serve as executive producers.

Random House Children’s Books announces the release of a coloring and activity app with Mattel for iPad. Barbie Color, Sparkle and Style includes two coloring books for a total of 16 pages of fun. Kids can create using a variety of different art tools, including the Barbie Bubble Wand, the Glitterizer, the Pattern Roller, the Fabric Fill tool, the Magic Wand, two Watercolor Paintbrushes, the Stickers tool, and the Paint Bucket. [Read more...]

Random House Children’s Books (www.randomhouse.com/kids) announces that Barbie Color, Sparkle and Style for iPad, its first original coloring and activity app with Mattel, is now available in the App Store. Photo courtesy of PRNewsFoto/Random House Children’s Books

This ultimate Barbie coloring app invites fans to play with color in a brand-new way. Packed with never-before-seen art tools, special effects, and pages of Barbie artwork, girls will be captivated for hours as they color, decorate, design, dress-up, and create on the go with their best friend, Barbie.

The Design Shop within the app offers additional coloring books and art supplies for sale. When kids have finished designing, their coloring book pages can be shared through email, Facebook, or Twitter. Parental controls can also disable sharing and in-app purchases.

Visit www.rhkidsapps.com to learn more about additional apps available from Random House Children’s Books.

New Products

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE), TT Games, and The Lego Group will launch Lego Worlds on Feb. 21 for PlayStation4, Xbox One, and STEAM. The game is a galaxy of imaginative words made entirely of digital LEGO bricks where players can explore, discover, and create together.

TILT launched two SpinTales products online at Toysrus.com, the SpinTales Enchanted Duvet and Jungle Rug. Kids can use the free app designed for these products to create immersive augmented reality experiences with the products, which blur the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds.

Jakks Pacific has been granted the rights to manufacture and market a line of pet products inspired by the BOO—The World’s Cutest Dog brand. The Pets division of Jakks is planning a line of BOO-branded dog toys featuring BOO’s likeness and specially designed for small dogs, as well as dog apparel, dog beds, and dog [...]

To celebrate “Colorful Friday” and the launch of the new Special Edition Gemma Stone Shoppie Doll, Moose Toys is launching the “Make the World Sparkle and Shine” fan contest. To enter the contest starting on Nov. 25, fans must submit 4 to 6 sentences describing how they add “sparkle” to their world by helping out [...]

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the release of six expansion packs for LEGO Dimensions, led by the Sonic The Hedgehog Level Pack and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Story Pack.